By BUUMBA CHIMBULU in Maputo
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Zambia is not among the 22 countries set to be surcharged next year for defaulting on its loans, as the country still has access to funds at highly concessional rates.
On Wednesday, Professor Attiya Waris, a United Nations Independent Expert Foreign Debt told a gathering at the fourth edition of the African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD IV) yesterday about the threats of surcharges that Egypt, Zambia, Angola, and Kenya are among the African countries facing these surcharges.
The IMF surcharges are clauses included in all IMF agreements and are activated once a country defaults on its loans.
Surcharges are designed to discourage large and prolonged use of IMF resources.
Reacting to reports that Zambia is among the countries to be surcharged, the country’s IMF Resident Representative, Eric Lautier, refuted the reports that Zambia was on the list of those countries set to face the surcharges.
Mr Lautier exclusively told the Daily Nation yesterday that Zambia had access to IMF loan through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGT) at highly concessional rates currently at zero interest rates.
He said that low income countries such as Zambia were not subject to surcharges on large and prolonged use of IMF resources.
“The 22 countries paying surcharges are not low income countries. These are Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Barbados, Benin, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Georgia, Jordan, Kenya, Moldova, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Ukraine,” Mr Lautier said.
“Surcharges are designed to discourage large and prolonged use of IMF resources. They are an important part of the Fund’s risk management and help the Fund to continue to play its central role as the global lender of last resort in times of crisis,” he said.
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